I chose to examine the Coconut Grove Grapevine Blog because I was drawn to its function. The function of the Coconut Grove Grapevine is to report the daily news of Coconut Grove, Florida – a neighborhood of around 20,000 people. It informs people living both in and outside of Coconut Grove about the activities and happenings in that neighborhood. Subjects in the blog range from events coming up, to updates on the local legislation, and information on local businesses.
I think it’s a great use of a blog to keep a small community of people informed. In a more traditional medium – like a newspaper or a mainstream website – this information would be less accessible and detailed. A blog is a great way for a community member to take this task into his own hands.
I like the style of the Coconut Grove Grapevine. When I read a blog, I’m not as much interested in random musings and people’s opinions. I like blogs that like short, simple internet stories. The posts were short, informative, and to the point. It was approachable and easy to read. There were a lot of links the viewer could to go to get more information on a subject. There were links to easily sign up for things, email people, etc.
Tom Falco is the editor and publisher of the Coconut Grove Grapevine Blog. I’m not sure of his background, but it seems from the blog posts that he is a Coconut Grove resident who wants to keep his community informed, as well as draw others in. While he uses links well, I think he should use them more to cite his sources. He refers to “a study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute”, but then doesn’t have a link to the study. I think the site would be more credible if he did that more often.
The only thing I didn’t really like about the blog was the layout. There were a lot of paid advertisements which are a little distracting. It seems like advertising is a big part of the site and that Falco wants ads on it, but there are distracting.
I like that this blog is more factual than opinionated. I think that I could potentially write a blog like this. As of now, I prefer the blogs that are short and informative without much opinion and interpretation because those are the kinds of blogs that I read. Because I’m more familiar with this kind of blog, I would probably be better writing one that is more factual and objective than opinionated. I would rather summarize than comment on situations.
The Coconut Grove Grapevine serves a great purpose and uses the blog medium well. Information that probably used to be scattered all over the place and difficult to find is now all on one well organized site. I like this particular blog because it has a great purpose and is simple and informative rather than the about the blogger’s opinions. I think it would be fun to write a blog about a local neighborhood, and I personally would be more comfortable writing that kind of blog.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Of course, the biggest advantage is that a community of 20,000 cannot AFFORD a newspaper (at least, not a for-profit paper).
ReplyDeleteGeography is also important. The proximity to the university makes the issues faced by this community somewhat different than the rest of Miami.
I do think you could have researched the editorial staff's background (at least Google the editor, or even read the earliest blog posts).
Otherwise, I thought this was a solid post. Keep up the good work.